St. Polycarp

St. Polycarp was a second century martyr, Church Father and Bishop of Smyrna. It is recorded that he was a disciple of St. John the Apostle who had ordained him as Bishop of Smyrna. Having lived an exemplary life of devotion and prayer, Polycarp was brutally martyred before a bloodthirsty crowd when he was eighty-six years old. He was burned at the stake, and then stabbed when the flames were not consuming his body. Polycarp is regarded as one of three chief Apostolic Fathers, together with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch. He is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches. In the USA there are at least five Catholic churches named after Polycarp. In art such as stained glass, St. Polycarp can be seen wearing a pallium which is the narrow cloth worn over the shoulders, and holding a book. His feast day is February 23rd and he is invoked as the patron saint of earache and dysentery. If you do not yet have a stained glass window of St. Polycarp in your church or prayer chapel, please contact us. We have a wide range of stained glass products available for you.